I have a well-cared 2006 JEEP Grand Cherokee Laredo, 3.7L with around 69,500 miles on it. I did the previous oil change and service at the dealer just a month ago.

Last week while driving I got the message 'CHECK GUAGES' followed by 'TRANSMISSION OVER TEMP' soon the jeep stopped. I tried to start but It was not starting. I never received any message saying that the coolant system was low anytime before this incident.

I towed it to the nearby Jeep dealer they did some diagnostics and two days later I was told that the water pump is leaking coolant and there is no compression in cylinder #1. They recommend replacement of water pump and left cylinder head. The estimate to replace the left cylinder head and water pump including diagnosis is $3,150.00. I was told that there may be other repairs needed, will need to remove left cylinder head to know if there is any other damage/required parts. I told the dealer that I would like to get an estimate on the total cost of repairing / replacing everything that is damaged so that I can decide whether or not it is worth repairing also whether I could afford the repair charge.

Today I received a call again from the dealer saying that I need to replace the engine (buy a new ENGINE ) which would cost me $7500. I almost had a heart attack.

I would like to repair the vehicle, but cannot afford $7500. This is the only vehicle I have. What are my options. Where can I buy a good used engine, how much will it cost, how much will it cost to install the engine.

First off, I am sorry for your misfortune and I hope you will be able to get it fixed. I am not a Jeep mechanic and cannot advise you in as far as what may needs to be done to have your vehicle fixed, but the cost of repairing your vehicle as estimated by the dealership seems a bit steep to me. My only advice to you is to try and call around to see if anyone else can offer you a different solution and/or price for the repairs. The reason why I tell you this is that I had my local dealership take a look at my transmission and transfer case when I first acquired my own vehicle. Their diagnosis of my problems resulted in a recommendation to have my entire transfer case replaced. After two years of trying to figure out what caused the symptoms, I finally found out my computer module was terribly outdated. After getting the updates, no more issues. The point here is that even a Jeep dealership may at times not be 100% accurate in their diagnosis, and it pays to shop around. Maybe someone else on the forum will be able to provide you with more mechanical insight and help guide you in the right direction as to what needs to be done. Good luck and hope everything works out for you! Let us know what happens!

Sooooo many stealers are now just parts replacing gougers that try to take the unsuspecting (and hopefully unknowledgeable) customers for all they're worth. If everything was working properly prior to this incident (no dash lights), I seriously doubt that the engine is toast. If you "all of a sudden" had one cylinder with no compression, you would immediately get a misfire DTC code. Did they check it for codes, and if so, what are they? Also, if the cylinder was fine one moment and then did indeed have "0" compression, something probably failed catastrophically, and you probably would have noticed it in massive loss of power, unusual noises, and for sure your dash would have lit up. Can you find another good, highly recommended independent mechanic and have it towed there? You'll always pay top dollar and then some at the stealer. That's how they got their names. In the mean time you'll most certainly have to rent or borrow a vehicle as, if this indeed a serious engine problem, you'll be out of service for a minimum a couple weeks, plus.

What I would do:
1. Ask the stealer to give you any and all DTC's that showed up with a code scan.
2. If you don't have access to the meanings, post them up so we can tell you what they all mean.
3. Find a good, reliable, trustworthy independent mechanic.
4. If it is determined tha the engine is toast, which I seriously doubt based on your chronology of events, call some of your local junk yards to see if they have a good engine. See if you can see the vehicle it came out of and hear it run.
5. If you can't find one, get on the internet (http://www.clevelandpickapart.com/), or call toll free (866-236-5031) Cleveland Pick-A-Part and see if they have an engine and how much to send it out to you. They deal in late model, quality stuff (much of it high performance), and I have found them to be reliable and trustworthy. All engines are run before shipping and guaranteed.

The jeep dealer recommended replacing the engine which would cost $7500 which I cannot afford

I checked with three local mechanics’, they all said they could only install remanufactured engine from JASPER which would cost around $5500 ($4000 for engine + $1500 for labor) . I was told that they are better than the original jeep engines and had many modifications done to make it more reliable and last long. But they still are costly

How good are the jasper engine's will they perform similar to the original jeep engine. Will I be able to service this type of engine at any garage? Any problem selling the vehicle later with a jasper engine?

I found another company called Promar which sells remanufactured engine, found them to be cheaper. But nobody recommends them. Any experience with promar engine?

I found no mechanic nearby (Shelton, CT) who could install a used engine from junk yard.

Is it possible to rebuit (repair) my old engine. will it be costly?

I checked cleveland-pick-a-part they donot have any engine that fit my jeep

I have a well-cared 2006 JEEP Grand Cherokee Laredo, 3.7L with around 69,500 miles on it. I did the previous oil change and service at the dealer just a month ago.

Last week while driving I got the message 'CHECK GUAGES' followed by 'TRANSMISSION OVER TEMP' soon the jeep stopped. I tried to start but It was not starting. I never received any message saying that the coolant system was low anytime before this incident.

I towed it to the nearby Jeep dealer they did some diagnostics and two days later I was told that the water pump is leaking coolant and there is no compression in cylinder #1. They recommend replacement of water pump and left cylinder head. The estimate to replace the left cylinder head and water pump including diagnosis is $3,150.00. I was told that there may be other repairs needed, will need to remove left cylinder head to know if there is any other damage/required parts. I told the dealer that I would like to get an estimate on the total cost of repairing / replacing everything that is damaged so that I can decide whether or not it is worth repairing also whether I could afford the repair charge.

Today I received a call again from the dealer saying that I need to replace the engine (buy a new ENGINE ) which would cost me $7500. I almost had a heart attack.

I would like to repair the vehicle, but cannot afford $7500. This is the only vehicle I have. What are my options. Where can I buy a good used engine, how much will it cost, how much will it cost to install the engine.

Thank you, Please advise

This sounds suspiciously like another Mopar V6, the 3.6 where the manifold was crap and would fail, allowing water into the engine and a lot of those ended up as engine replacements.

I don't know of any secret warranties on the 3.7, but before you spend a few grand, a bit of time and effort digging around and even contacting Chrysler might be in order.

I had to replace the Hemi in my 2005 limited. My mechanic did not want to replace it because he was to busy but he recommended me to a scrap yard and they found a used engine. It was up and running again for just a bit over 4000$ cdn. Hope you can get it running again

Most shops, and especially stealers, won't do any kind of work they can't warranty. That's mainly why the want to install new or remanufactured engines. Also, then you can only "hang" them for the R and R and the engine warranty has to be handled through the party that built it.

You asked if it can be fixed without installing a new engine. In many cases, yes. If any components in the rotating assembly have failed, at a minimum you'd probably need a new short block. If it's a head/valve problem and it didn't destroy a piston, you can probably get by with just new heads. I keep going back to your initial "sequence of events" and it really doesn't sound like you lunched the whole engine. I still say, you really need to find a reliable, trustworthy mechanic that'll give it to you straight, and is not trying to rape you. Were you ever able to get it started? Were there any noises? If so, what did they sound like? Has anyone checked to see if there is oil in the water, or water in the oil? Has anyone pulled the spark plugs (inspect them), done a compression check, or (especially) a cylinder leak down test? All these relatively minor checks will tell, in short order, what's going on. One caution, if when you turn it over or start it, if it's making loud metallic noises, shut it off immediately, so as not to do more damage. That's why I would first address any codes that showed up, then do the tests id'ed above, and if all is well, then try to start it again. For the reasons above, most shops won't go to all the trouble of "piece mealing" a fix. For them it's not cost effective, and the labor charges would give you a heart attack.

If you're really desparate, you may want to look around your town and see if you can find a mechanic that does work for the used car dealers. Some of them are actually good mechanics, and for sure are experts at fixing things on the cheap. In my town their shops are usually off the beaten path in small industrial or commerical areas. To give you and idea, I had a renter that owns a body shop that did most of his work for the dealers. He isn't the best, but he's less than half the cost of the main street shops. More than adequate for my daily driver. I hit a deer with my LX and he repaired/painted the front bumper $200, and he now has the front and rear SRT bumpers off my WK. Fix, prep., paint both bumpers (color matched with black inserts) and the same with the right front fender, all for $750. On the LX, the main street shops wanted $1200-1500 just to do the front bumper. I'd drive around with it looking ugly before I'd spend that kind of $$$ on it. Wish I had learned body work and painting when I was younger!!!